Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has appointed two senior Fatah officials to hold informal talks with Hamas movement, an informed source was quoted as saying on Sunday. The Palestinian source told Fars News Agency that despite the fact that Fatah officials have been denying such meetings, the two Fatah members, namely Jibril Rajoub and Hamzeh Rahim have already attended several rounds of informal talks with Hamas officials.

Similar claims have surfaced previously and have been officially denied by Fatah. However, on Sunday, Ahmed Yousef, the top political advisor to deposed premier Ismail Haniya, said that Abbas had allowed some Fatah officials to hold unofficial talks with Hamas. According to Yousef, Israel and the USA have been exerting massive pressure on Abbas not to hold talks with Hamas.